Warwick’s Pro- and Artist-series instruments are being built in South Korea these days, which results in lower prices when compared to Warwick’s German basses. The question is ”Are Korean Warwicks really thoroughbred Warwick basses?” Read on…

As is already hinted at by its name, the Corvette Standard Ash bass features a body made from swamp ash.

Three long stripes of ovangkol are used as the main ingredient for the neck. The ovangkol pieces are visually offset by two thin strips of ekanga. Both woods come from West Africa.

The Corvette’s neck is screwed on using four separate screws and individual washers. A round chamfer on the body takes away some of the bulk for smoother top fret access.

Warwick’s famous oil and wax finish brings out the rich hue and the lively grain in the ovangkol.

Korean Warwicks come equipped with the exact same top-drawer hardware found on the company’s German models.

The Corvette Standard Ash sports Schaller-tuners.

There are more cool pro-touches on the front side of the headstock too – truss rod access is possible without using a screwdriver, and the top nut is Warwick’s own, fully adjustable Just-A-Nut-III model.

A wenge fretboard and bell bronze frets – most bass players would already know that this is a Warwick bass by this picture alone.

The bridge is a masterpiece of German engineering. In addition to intonation and action, this chunky number also allows for the adjustment of string-to-string distance. Naturally, everything is then locked in place securely using grub screws.

The Corvette Standard’s J-sized pickups are made by German pickup buffs MEC.

Inside the extremely clean back cavity you’ll find a set of special MEC-pots.

Warwick’s smooth satin oil-finish is called Nirvana Black.

The bass comes with a User Kit bag containing a user’s manual and strap locks, as well as all allen keys needed for adjustment.

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Regardless whether the instrument comes from Germany or South Korea, if it says ”Warwick” on the headstock players’ expectations with regard to quality, playability and tone are bound to be high.

One of the key points of Warwick-quality is the quality of woods used for crafting their basses. It’s not only about the unblemished looks, but also about the right (read: light) weight. Thanks to the company’s strict guidelines there are no unpleasant surprises when it comes to a Warwick’s weight and feel.

In ergonomic terms the Corvette Standard Ash is also a genuine Warwick – the body feels comfortable and the whole bass balances very nicely on a strap, thanks to the long top horn.

The Corvette’s neck profile starts off as a slender-but-full ”U” at the top nut, broadening out nicely the nearer you move towards the the body. The neck’s oil finish gives the bass a very natural feel.

This bass has been designed to make slap-playing easy, with plenty of room between the top of the body and the bottom of the strings. And the Corvette is no slouch when it comes to other playing styles, either.

Played acoustically this bass displays a charmingly raunchy mid-range, coupled with a clear, piano-type attack.

As you can hear clearly in the soundbites below, the natural tone of the Corvette shines through nicely in its amped-up performance also. All audio clips have been recorded using a SansAmp Bass Driver DI -box and a Focusrite Saffire 6 USB sound-card. Each clip starts off with the neck pickup on its own:

The Korea-made Warwicks represent a win-win-situation in my opinion. The Pro Series basses aren’t second class Warwicks by any stretch of the imagination, instead they offer us cash-strapped musicians professional grade instruments with a friendlier price tag. It’s 100 percent Warwick quality and tone at a moderate price – this should spell ”great value” in anybody’s book!

A special feature on all PRS SE steel-strings is their proprietary top bracing pattern which seamlessly combines the best bits of traditional x- and fan-bracing patterns. The end result should be a very dynamic and open-sounding acoustic tone.

A Grand Auditorium’s body has about the same cubic content as a Dreadnought. Its rounder shape with a more slender waist makes it more comfortable to play, and also produces a different basic voicing. Grand Auditoriums tend to sound more open with added clarity in the lower midrange (between 600 – 800 Hz) compared to a Dreadnought, making them easier to record.

The SE Angelus Standard is crafted from solid sitka spruce for the top and solid mahogany for the body’s back. The rims are pressed from mahogany plywood, adding a little sturdiness.

Mahogany is also the material of choice for the Angelus’ neck.

It’s surprising to see how well PRS’ traditional headstock looks on an acoustic guitar. In the SE Angelus’ case the headstock features a rosewood veneer, as well as white binding.

The top nut has been carved from genuine bovine bone.

The tuners are the same quality units PRS also uses for their SE electrics.

The SE Angelus’ neck is a three-piece affair, with a long piece making up the bulk of the neck, and two small added pieces for the headstock and the neck heel, respectively.

The mahogany used for body construction is gorgeous – the honey-hued wood looks good enough to eat underneath the thinly applied transparent lacquer.

By the way: A second strap button comes as standard on the SE Angelus.

Here’s a view of the Angelus’ rounded cutaway – a typical feature on many Grand Auditorium sized instruments.

The top’s black and white binding looks very crisp.

A rosewood rosette adds a tad of understated charm to proceedings.

The SE Angelus displays extremely clean workmanship throughout – even on the inside!

The compensated saddle in the guitar’s rosewood bridge is made from tone-enhancing genuine bone.

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But the PRS SE Angelus Standard isn’t just nice to look at, this guitar is also a sheer joy to play!

The instrument is lightweight, and just touching it already gives you a sense of this guitar’s eagerness to resonate.

PRS have made a wise decision in my opinion, when it came to choosing a neck profile for the Angelus: This neck is an unabashedly steel-string acoustic type of neck. No foul compromises to win over electric players – the Angelus’ neck profile is a chunky affair somewhere between a D- and a U-shaped cross-section.

If you’re new to steel-string acoustics – or just used to the feel of many electroacoustic guitars – the first impression might be a slight bit disconcerting, but fear not! In the long run a big neck will help your left-hand technique, and it’s the right choice for big tone as well.

And what a tone it is! I can only heap praise upon the Angelus’ tone, sustain and dynamics – what a beautiful open sound!

String-to-string balance is outstanding, regardless of playing style or chosen register. It’s not often that you find a brand-new guitar with such a mature voice from the get-go – especially in this price bracket!

I also recorded the SE Angelus with different recording set-ups, and can only report that it is almost impossible to get a bad (or muddy) sound out of this instrument.

…and here are two clips, which I recorded using an AKG C3000 condenser mic close to the guitar, pointing at the 14. fret, paired with a Samson C02 at shoulder height facing towards the bridge (–> Focusrite Saffire 6 USB –> Apple Garageband):

The Vox Escort came out in 1975 and was Vox’ first battery-powered practice amp. This baby-AC30 has about 3 Watts of power, which it puts out through a 5-inch Elac-speaker. The diminutive Escort stayed in the company’s line-up until 1983.

The first run of combos was battery-power only, using huge 9V -batteries, called PP9, but already in 1976 the dual-power Escort Battery-Mains -model was put into production.

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My own Vox Escort is an ex-battery-only combo, which a previous owner had already converted to AC-powered, when I bought it some ten years ago.

The Escort features two inputs – Normal and Brilliant – as well as two controls – Volume and Tone.

The genuine Battery-Mains-version has a slightly different layout, as well as a power-selector and a fuse compartment on the control panel:

On the cabinet’s right-hand side you’ll find a line out jack for easy connection to a mixing console or – as Vox suggested – for using the Escort as a booster in front of your big amp:

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The small, lower back plate – normally providing access to the battery – is obviously not original. It would have been made of the same chipboard material, as used for the larger upper plate.

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The modification to AC-only isn’t quite as neat as it could be, but the amp is in perfect working order, nonetheless. The sticky tape on the sides has been added to stop the back plates from rattling.

The transformer is screwed tightly to the cabinet’s floor, the circuit board (containing the rectifier amongst other components) is fastened to the amp chassis (slightly askew), while the 5-inch speaker is fixed to the baffle, as it should be.

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During the latter half of the Seventies the Escort Battery-Mains got company by two larger brothers. The Escort 30 was a noticeably larger 30 Watt combo with a 12-inch speaker, as well as a built-in fuzz-channel. The Vox Super Twin featured two 5-inch speakers and a spring reverb, and was rated at 20 Watts.